Date: 01/30/2009 Time: 07:00 pm - 11:00 pm
Danny Barnes (born 1961) is a banjo and guitar player whose music is influenced by country, jazz and punk. Born in Temple, Texas and raised in Belton, Barnes was exposed to music at a young age: he recalls picking up a love of country and bluegrass from his father and grandmother, Delta blues from one brother and punk from another. He attended the University of Texas and graduated with a degree in audio production in 1985.
In 1990, while living in Austin, Barnes formed a band called Bad Livers with bassist Mark Rubin and fiddler Ralph White. The band's 1994 debut album, Delusions of Banjer, was produced by Paul Leary of the Butthole Surfers, and gained the band some attention in the alt-rock-country scene; they followed it up with three more albums on the Sugar Hill Records label.
In 2000 Barnes, now living in the Seattle area, dissolved the Bad Livers and founded a new band, Danny Barnes & Thee Old Codgers, with bassist Keith Lowe and violinist Jon Parry. This band released only a single album, 2001's Things I Done Wrong, which was produced by avant-garde jazz composer and pianist Wayne Horvitz (a fellow Seattle resident). 2002 saw Barnes working with jazz guitarist Bill Frisell; Frisell was moving towards incorporating more "American"—country and bluegrass—influences into his playing, and he wanted Barnes to give him lessons in that direction. Their work together led to Barnes playing on Frisell's next album, The Willies; Barnes also toured with Frisell in support of the album.
Since moving to Seattle Barnes has also recorded several solo albums, which were self-released, and a duet effort. His 2003 album Dirt on the Angel, released on Terminus Records, featured Frisell, Chuck Leavell, Darol Anger, and Dirk Powell. In 2004 Barnes participated in Wayne Horvitz's Mylab band and released his second CD for Terminus Records, Get Myself Together.
On 9/21/2007, Danny joined Robert Earl Keen during an opening for the Dave Matthews Band in Houston. Danny joined DMB during their song "Bartender." He also joined DMB during their show at Smirnoff Music Centre in Dallas, and at their two shows at the Hollywood Bowl in California to conclude DMB's summer 2007 tour.
Besides his musical skills, Barnes is also "a licensed pilot, skateboarder, motorcyclist, flyfisher, unicyclist, trap shooter, and disc golfer."
Rockin' Acoustic ircus Roaring out of Oklahoma with a ferocious energy and musicianship that belies their years, the members of Rockin’ Acoustic Circus have become the most exciting new act on the acoustic-music scene. Already a favorite on the regional festival circuit – with enthusiastically received appearances at Branson, MO’s Silver Dollar City and Walnut Valley International Festival in Winfield, KS, among many others – the Circus is now poised to go national, taking their fresh acoustic blend of bluegrass, country, swing and other genres of music to a whole new set of venues and audiences.
These kids are open to all styles of music,” says veteran instrumentalist Rick Morton, guitarist and ringmaster with Rockin’ Acoustic Circus. “They’re hard working -- eager to learn and eager to play. What they do has a whole different feel to it -- a different sound.”
klondike5 string band Tulsa's Home Town Hillbily Band they play Bluegrass / Bluegrass / Country Old-timey Tulsa music from the acoustic instruments of the Klondike5 String Band. These fine young folks seem to have been born a couple decades too late as they whip out the old sounds from yesteryear on their crazy banjos and fiddles. Matt Skelton heads the band up with his rhythm guitar and his gritty low-down lead vocals while his bride Carmen Skelton saws the double-stops on her fiddle. Eric “BG” Fransen rakes his fingers all over the banjo strings while Mike Hopper keeps the flow flowing on lead acoustic guitar. Chris Foster thumps out the bass lines and, on occasion, Chris Becker plays his mandolin off to the left. If you’re around go on down and see them do the best they can to give you a bit of "Flour Hour" type reminiscence. They dig deep into the the dark coners of the traditional music songbook and resurrect numbers that are hundreds of years old, song that have just always been there. Plus original tunes that are guaranteed to get your feet a stomping. Like Carmen's song about her drinking and lollygagging and her man leaving her just like he said he would, or Matt's song about being reborn as a hillbilly (reintarnation). Eric's clawhammer banjo melodies that sound like they flow fresh from the Big Piney river in the Ozark Mountains (most of them do)!
